Dontrelle Wayne Willis (born January 12, 1982), nicknamed "the D-Train",Willis works on windup MLB.com is an American former professional baseball pitcher. A left-hander, he played in Major League Baseball for the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Cincinnati Reds. Willis was notable for his success during his first few years in the major leagues and for his unconventional pitching style, which included a high leg kick and exaggerated twisting away from the batter.Dontrelle Willis bio He was named the 2003 National League Rookie of the Year and won the World Series in the same year.
Willis joined the television broadcast team of the Los Angeles Dodgers in May 2022. He is also a regular studio and game analyst for Fox Sports and AppleTV+.
Early life Willis was raised by his mother, Joyce, a retired member of Ironworkers Local 378, in Alameda, California. She played in elite-level softball leagues when Willis was a child. Willis never knew his father, Clinton Ostah, who was a minor league player in the 1970s. Growing up, Willis rooted for the Oakland Athletics as a child. Willis' favorite player was former Oakland Athletics' pitcher Dave Stewart.
Career Early career Willis attended Encinal High School in Alameda, where he played baseball for four years. In Willis' senior year in 2000, he had a 0.70 earned run average (ERA) with 111 strikeouts in 70 innings pitched and was named California Player of the Year. He initially committed to play college baseball at Arizona State. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the eighth round of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft.
In 2001, Willis was promoted to the Boise Hawks of the Northwest League. He finished with eight wins and a 2.98 ERA. Opposing hitters only batted .217 against Willis. In a Baseball America poll, several Northwest managers said that Willis was Boise's best player.
Florida Marlins
On March 27, 2002, the Cubs traded Willis, fellow pitchers Julián Tavárez and José Cueto, and catcher Ryan Jorgensen to the Florida Marlins, in exchange for pitchers Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca.
After being traded, Willis struggled early on. However, Willis started to get better as he got to low Class A ball. By the end of the season, he had a 10–2 win–loss record and finished the season with the Class-A Jupiter Hammerheads. In five starts, he went 2–0 with a 1.83 ERA, leading the Midwest League in ERA. For his performance, he was named the Marlins' Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
In the 2003 spring training, Willis reported to Jupiter. The plan was to start him with the Class-AA Carolina Mudcats. The hope was that he would make the leap to AAA, and potentially be available for a spot start in Florida or a back-of-the-bullpen job late in the season. The Marlins then sent Willis down to Carolina to work on consistency and control. Willis went 4–0 with a 1.49 ERA for Carolina.
2003 season On May 9, 2003, Willis made his major league debut for the Florida Marlins against the Colorado Rockies. He pitched six innings, allowed seven hits and three earned runs, and got a no decision. On May 14, in a start against the Padres, Willis went five innings, allowed five hits, three earned runs, and four walks, and received his first Major League win. On June 16, Willis pitched nine innings and allowed no runs in a 1–0 victory over the Mets in his first career shutout. Willis' opponent in that game was Tom Glavine, one of his childhood heroes.
Willis was named the National League Rookie of the Month for June 2003, becoming the first Marlins pitcher to be named Pitcher of the Month. He became the first rookie pitcher to win Pitcher of the Month since Hideo Nomo in 1995 and he became the first rookie pitcher to win seven straight starts since Jason Isringhausen, also in 1995. In five starts, Willis went 5–0 with a 1.04 ERA. Heading into the All-Star Break in mid-July, Willis was 9–1 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 starts. He made the National League All-Star team as injury replacement for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown. He became the second Marlins rookie to make the All-Star team; Alex González did it in 1999.
After coming out of the bullpen in game 1 of the 2003 National League Division Series against the Giants, Willis started game 4 of the series. In innings pitched, Willis allowed five hits, two walks, and struck out three batters, but allowed five earned runs. Despite struggling with his pitching, Willis batted 3-for-3 with a triple and scoring a run during that game, which the Marlins won 7–6 to advance to the NL Championship Series against the Cubs, the team that drafted Willis. In game 4, Willis again struggled with his command. In innings pitched, he allowed three hits and five walks, and Willis took the loss. His only other appearance in the series was in game 6, when he allowed a run in one inning of relief. Despite his limited contributions, the Marlins went on to defeat the Cubs in seven games. The Marlins then defeated the New York Yankees in the 2003 World Series.
After the 2003 season, Willis was named the National League Rookie of the Year. He went 14–6 with a 3.30 ERA in 27 starts for the year.
2004 season In 2004, Willis started the year 3–0, and did not allow an earned run in his first three starts. In his first two starts, Willis batted 6-for-6 with a home run. His seven consecutive hits in the regular season was one short of the club record held by Gary Sheffield and Preston Wilson. In his next start against the Phillies, Willis struck out in his first at bat, snapping his streak of 10 consecutive hits dating back to previous year's postseason. Willis finished the 2004 season with a record of 10–11 and an ERA of 4.02.
2005 season In 2005, Willis started the 2005 season by pitching two shutouts against the Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies. During the month of April, Willis went 5–0 in five starts and allowed five earned runs in 35 innings pitched for a 1.29 ERA. He was named NL Pitcher of the Month.
On May 6, Willis became the league's first six-game winner when he went seven innings and allowed no runs against the Rockies. On June 8, Willis became the major league's first 10-game winner when he pitched the Marlins to a 5–4 victory over the Seattle Mariners, allowing four runs. Willis became only the third pitcher in Marlins history to record 10 wins before the All-Star break. On June 23, Willis became the NL's first 12-game winner when he pitched a shutout against the Braves.
Going into the All-Star break, Willis was 13–4 with a 2.39 ERA and a 1.14 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Willis was named to the All-Star team but did not pitch in the game. After the All-Star break, Willis went 9–6 and posted a 2.91 ERA and a 1.13 walks plus hits per innings pitched the rest of the season.
During his last start before the All-Star break, Willis struggled against the Cubs. In innings, he allowed eight runs, all earned. He struggled in each of his first two starts after the break, failing to make it past the sixth inning in games against the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants. Willis matched his highest win total on July 28 against the Pirates when he went seven innings, allowed three hits, no earned runs, and picked up his 14th victory of the season, which tied his career high for most wins in a season. Willis won his career-high 15th victory on August 7 against the Reds. He went eight innings, allowed four hits, and no earned runs. On August 17, Willis held the Padres scoreless by shutting the Padres out in nine innings, earning him his 16th win of the season, second most in baseball. The win put Florida one-and-a-half games behind Houston and Philadelphia in the wild card standings.
Willis won his 19th game of the season against the Mets on September 2, breaking Carl Pavano's franchise record for most wins in a season. Pavano held the Marlins' mark for most victories in a season by a Marlins' pitcher for a year. On September 7 against the Washington Nationals, Willis pitched six innings and allowed one earned run, which gave him his 20th win of the season. He became the first African-American pitcher to win 20 games in a season since Dave Stewart did it in 1990, and in the process, he became the first pitcher to win 20 games and have 20 hits as a batter since Mike Hampton did it in 1999 for the Astros. On September 22, Willis became the first pitcher to bat seventh or higher since Montreal's Steve Renko batted seventh on August 26, 1973. Willis went 1-for-4 against the New York Mets. He posted a 22–10 record with a 2.63 ERA and 1.13 walks plus hits per innings pitched. His 22 wins was the most in baseball. He also pitched seven complete games and five shutouts, also the most in baseball. Willis is still the only pitcher in Marlins history to win 20 games in a season.
Willis finished 2nd in the N.L. Cy Young Award voting behind Chris Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals. He won the Warren Spahn Award, given to the best left-handed pitcher in each league.
2006 season In the 2006 season, Willis' numbers were down from his great 2005 season. Willis started the season by going 1–6 with a 4.93 ERA and did not get his second victory of the season until June 2. He still posted decent numbers for the year and went 12–12 with a 3.87 ERA, including 11–6 with a 3.39 ERA from June to September. His 12 wins were tied for the most on the Marlins. Willis also led the Marlins in complete games (4), innings pitched (), walks (83), and hit by pitch (19).
On June 20, Willis earned his 50th career win in a start against the Baltimore Orioles.
On July 7, Willis hit a grand slam off of Mets pitcher José Lima, becoming the first pitcher to hit a grand slam since Robert Person did it in 2002. It was his fourth career home run. On September 20, 2006, he hit two home runs, off of Óliver Pérez and Roberto Hernández. He became the first pitcher since Randy Wolf in 2004 to hit two home runs in a game.
2007 season On January 15, 2007, Willis signed a one-year contract with the Marlins for $6.45 million, avoiding salary arbitration.
In the 2007 season, Willis went 10–15 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.60 walks plus hits per innings pitched. Up to that point, it was his worst season of his career. Willis led the National League in earned runs allowed with 118.
During his career with the Marlins, Willis went 68–54 with a 3.78 ERA. He won at least 10 games each season during all five of his years with the Marlins from 2003 to 2007. In 2026, Willis was announced for induction into the Marlins Legends Hall of Fame, with the ceremony to occur on September 13, 2026.
Detroit Tigers
On December 5, 2007, the Marlins traded Willis along with fellow All-Star Miguel Cabrera to the Detroit Tigers for Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, Mike Rabelo, Eulogio de la Cruz, Dallas Trahern, and Burke Badenhop. Willis signed a three-year, $29 million contract extension two weeks later. In his debut with the Tigers, Willis pitched five innings, gave up one hit, and three earned runs against the Chicago White Sox.
In his next start, also against the White Sox, Willis injured his left knee and departed the game before even recording an out.Willis hyperextends knee as Tigers claw to 2nd win of year espn.com, November 4, 2008 Placed on the disabled list the next day, Willis had walked nine batters while striking out none in his first two outings. Command of his pitches became a trouble spot, and later in the season, Tiger manager Jim Leyland pitched him in relief for the first time, with little success. He was placed back into the rotation on June 3, 2008, to start in a loss against the Oakland Athletics. espn.com, March 6, 2008